Baselworld is only a few weeks away. Getting the latest news is easy, Click Here for info on how to join the Watchuseek.com newsletter list. Follow our team for updates featuring event coverage, new product unveilings, watch industry news & more!

The weird thing is that there's only 1 laser assy in there AFAIK, and DVD's play fine. And why all of a sudden after being powered off for 3 months?

Anyway, I spoke with a tech at the local service center and I'll bring it in next week and hope it just needs cleaning with some juicy commercial chemicals & realignment to bring her back to spec. He said it's the most common service. 10-day turnaround max, 24 hrs. if I want to pay an additional $35 - I guess I'm pretty lucky they're close by.

The weird thing is that there's only 1 laser assy in there AFAIK, and DVD's play fine. And why all of a sudden after being powered off for 3 months?

Anyway, I spoke with a tech at the local service center and I'll bring it in next week and hope it just needs cleaning with some juicy commercial chemicals & realignment to bring her back to spec. He said it's the most common service. 10-day turnaround max, 24 hrs. if I want to pay an additional $35 - I guess I'm pretty lucky they're close by.

Let's hope your luck continue.

Typically, the non-reading starts with one kind of disc, e.g. SACD or DVD-A, and then "spreads" to other kinds until nothing plays.

Does anyone have a problem bringing up the firmware/software version on the 2910, mine was working ok about a year ago, I did the remote MR hack and never check it again. I called Denon recently since the macroblocking was driving me crazy and they send me ESS:6720-D Day 902 firmware update - I could not check the firmware version before the install but I thought I would re-initialize the player and check again after the install. I still was unable to pull up the software version to confirm it loaded (which I think it did as the picture was better). called up denon but they just told me to do the standard remote 3-2-6-5 on the remote after the 3 second holding the open/close and play + on/off. But I can't seem to get it to show the version. Player is otherwise fine,
Any input would be appreciated.

Hmmm... I have the same problem after updating with the latest firmware; " 3-2-6-5" doesn't work. Before and after the multi-region setting.

And, I did this latest upgrade because of green push problems with HDMI; but after the upgrade I even have more green push, now at the Component-video socket too.
(HDMI-cable: Monster 300 (2m./6.6ft), ordered Monster M1000DAV).

I like Film-Noir, but it's now Green-Noir, very frustrating. To limit somewhat that green push, I changed the settings at "Picture adjust": "HUE": +1 (towards red).
-----
2nd problem is the co-operation of my DVD2910 with my new lcd-screen: (lip-) synch with some DVD's. Not with the speakers at the tv-screen, but with the audio via the DVD2910 connected to my home-made triode tube-amplifiers.

The weird thing is that there's only 1 laser assy in there AFAIK, and DVD's play fine. And why all of a sudden after being powered off for 3 months?

Anyway, I spoke with a tech at the local service center and I'll bring it in next week and hope it just needs cleaning with some juicy commercial chemicals & realignment to bring her back to spec. He said it's the most common service. 10-day turnaround max, 24 hrs. if I want to pay an additional $35 - I guess I'm pretty lucky they're close by.

Has anyone tried to lubricate the spindle in the transport motor? I had a DVD player that would lock up intermittently until finally it wouldn't play at all. Lubricating the spindle in the transport motor solved the problem.

The Oppo's are looking like an irresistible force. They have two (or three) universal players between MSRP $150 and $230. I believe all have HDMI, with the $230 unit passing video (naturally) and all audio (including decoded DVD-A and SACD) over it. With hi-def here, it just doesn't seem to make sense to spend more on a DVD player.

Good luck!

The Oppo DV-980H for $170 has HDMI 1.2a and can pass pure DSD over HDMI and upscales to 1080p. The upcoming DV-983H will use better video processing chips than the DV-980H but the DV-980H is really good as is the DV-981HD.

For fun, it was certainly not needed, I just purchased a used DVD-2910 but after reading this thread, I have a feeling I am not going to be very happy. I do have the DVD-1920 and like it really well, but my Oppo DV-980H is even better. For some odd reason, I have been compelled to have great redundancy for my SACD/DVD-A/DVD-V collection. I only have one each for Blu-ray and HD DVD, but the software selection for those formats doesn't require hardware redundancy. I really expected new quality affordable universal SACD/DVD-A/DVD-V/CD players to disappear since new SACD/DVD-A software is practically nonexistent, but new players continue to show up. My fleet of players is an unnecessary expense in hindsight.

What is the consensus for best firmware version for the DVD-2910 for use with a 720p LCD projector like my Panasonic PT-AE900U and how do I get it?. I might go ahead and hook this thing up and use now that I have it, at least until I have a problem with it.

I get great results with my DVD-2910 and it was easy to set up. The projector settings for my DVD-1920 seem right on the money to me. Audio quality is excellent as well. I had hoped to track down a good used DVD-3910 priced right but this will be good enough.

Denon's site returns "Invalid serial number or does not apply to this unit" when I attempt to get product upgrades. This wasn't always the case. It used to work before they updated their site some time ago.

I just recently starting getting dropoffs on my Steely Dan Gaucho SACD, but only on the last 3 tracks (4-7). I don't see any abnormalities on the surface, but have tried cleaning with no success. Should I start to be getting worried about laser alignment? I (so-far) have no issues with any other SACD, CD, or DVD that I have tried.

I just recently starting getting dropoffs on my Steely Dan Gaucho SACD, but only on the last 3 tracks (4-7). I don't see any abnormalities on the surface, but have tried cleaning with no success. Should I start to be getting worried about laser alignment?

Actually, you should be getting worried about your laser, period. If you notice a second and then a third optical disc (SACD,DVD-A,CD, DVD) having problems, then that's what it is. It's also several hundred dollars - usually - to repair which means it's not economically feasible. Sorry, I hope I'm wrong.

Denon's site returns "Invalid serial number or does not apply to this unit" when I attempt to get product upgrades. This wasn't always the case. It used to work before they updated their site some time ago.

Mark

Entering my serial number, I get this:

Quote:

PRODUCT UPDATES & UPGRADES

Welcome to the updates and upgrades search result section for your Denon product. The following search results will list the applicable updates or upgrades that are currently available for your unit. Please select the items your are interested in from the list of items shown below.

SEARCH RESULTS FOR: DVD-2910: Black (Edit Search)

Please ensure you review and read all associated instructions for each update or upgrade. If your update or upgrade requires factory service, you will be required to submit a request for a Service Return Authorization number before returning your unit.

Hello to all, I've been reading a little about this. is there anything to eliminate this. I have the 2910 hooked up to a 2 month old Toshiba 65 in DLP. I also have a Panasonic BD-30 blue ray player as well. they are both running through a DVDO VP30 scaler\\processor. I'm using monster 1000 series hdmi cables - 10mpbs transfer speed. the 2910 no matter which way i hook it up I get blue like blotches in the deep blacks. really bad on 3:10 to yuma. not all movies but most. I've tried direct by passing the processor straight to hdmi of the tv. same results. now the Panasonic does not do that at all on standard dvds or blue ray. blacks are solid deep blacks. no blotching blue color (perfect pic). I called some experts and was told try to hook it up through the component instead of the hdmi. (I tried the different hdmi settings as well - same results) with it set to interlaced instead of progressive & let the processor do the scaling instead of the denon (this supposedly turns off the internal scaler). now I was told pic quality should not suffer. basically the whole 1080p thing is a joke as is the 7.1 hi def audio. uncompressed audio isthe key! unless you have a concert sized room (narrow & long) 7.1 is effective. 95% of professionally installed audiophile high end home theater systems is 5.1...back to video - they don't film movies in 1080p. the studio's call it 1080i matrixed. to the public it's called true 1080p. did you notice the big plasma push on the holidays - bestbuy, circuit city etc..they were selling them for cheap, cheap. hi-def, hi-def. the majority of the sets under $1000 were only 720p. next will be the hdmi 1.3 compliantcy - oh no you have to upgrade again NOT!!! back to the issue. I do notice slight detail decline through the component but barely.
I find it disturbing that some of you experience macro blocking & others don't.
I have 2 of these denon players plus a 5910 as well all have this issue of macro blocking on other tv's as well. any other ideas? I've yet to upgrade firmware & call Denon.
thx for your input. we can all help each other here. I also have an interesting test I do with the panasonic blue ray I have and the dvdo processor. the vp30 processor can handle up to a 1080i input (hdmi). the Pany blue ray outputs up to 1080p & 24fps (frames per second). ok direct to the tv is looks
great. going through the processor the signal output from the panasonic is only 1080i & the processor up scales to 1080p to the tv. the picture is much more detailed with depth this way. standard dvd's look almost like a blue ray
I swear you'd have to really look hard to notice the difference. I guess my point is don't sell the farm for this 1080p craze! do your homework & run the tests yourself. you will see.......

I have seen macroblocking on with 2910 connected to a Samsung DLP. I have since purchased a Toshiba HD-XA2 which has no such problem. Unfortunately, I doubt there is anything that could be done this late in the product's life-cycle (if anything could be done at all that is). My 2910 is now happily living with a Sony CRT in my bedroom - no macroblocking there. It really does seem to be a problem with certain (types of) displays.

I also have an interesting test I do with the panasonic blue ray I have and the dvdo processor. the vp30 processor can handle up to a 1080i input (hdmi). the Pany blue ray outputs up to 1080p & 24fps (frames per second). ok direct to the tv is looks great. going through the processor the signal output from the panasonic is only 1080i & the processor up scales to 1080p to the tv. the picture is much more detailed with depth this way. standard dvd's look almost like a blue ray
I swear you'd have to really look hard to notice the difference. I guess my point is don't sell the farm for this 1080p craze! do your homework & run the tests yourself. you will see.......

OT for this thread, but you seem to have felt it was important to put this out there at the end of your macroblocking post. I'd like to propose an alternate reason for your result. According to the list of displays that accepts and properly DISPLAYS 24fps, there are no DLP front projectors that do so. That probably means that your display is accepting 24fps and doing a 3:2 pulldown. This is not a fair test of 1080p. Additionally, comparing an excellent external video processor to the internal deinterlacing/scaling of the Toshiba DLP is equally not cricket.

I'm not suggesting that members do not "see for themselves" on the issue of 1080p vs. 1080i, or that they throw an otherwise perfectly fine 1080i display, or a non-1080/24p one, under the bus, but it is FUD - "don't sell the farm for this 1080p craze" - to present it the way you did.

Ptilley42 you need to change the progressive output to interlaced in order to get a picture out of the component connection. I ran into the same problem. I have to run the player with that connection in order to improve the macro blocking issue I have.

Well, I solved my macro blocking problem. I went to the store to buy a $100+
component video cables. well I wound up getting a Toshiba HD-A30 HD dvd player with the promo going now (9 free movies) for less than the cables. after hooking this up with the 1000 series monster HDMI cable through my DVDO VP 30 processor my video issue was resolved. the picture quality of standard dvds was phenominal, way more than I expected & NO BLOTCHING or MACRO BLOCKING. I have been using the Tosh for a few days now & I'm 100% satisfied. I haven't even watched a HD DVD yet. looks like my Denon days are history especially after talking to customer service about the forementioned problem. so both my 2910's & my 5900 will be moving out in the near future. see I was having the same issue at different levels with all the players listed even on my older Toshiba 65" CRT & a Sony CRT as in the past. I had sent the 5900 in for maintenance thinking it might have been a mechanical issue. nope! nothing was wrong with it. so from there I went on to buy the newer 2910 & the rest is current. I'm trying to knocking denon at all. there's just so many people with this problem on many different displays so I hope Denon addresses this in the future because it's obviously a problem with their players & not peoples displays. 2 - 2910's & a 5900. that's 3 strikes.

Yeah.. the "D" version is not available online for whatever reason. I have "C" loaded now, and when I enter my serial @ Denon, it says there are no updates available for my player. But there IS a "D" version out there that supposedly resolves some HDMI issues.

Yeah.. the "D" version is not available online for whatever reason. I have "C" loaded now, and when I enter my serial @ Denon, it says there are no updates available for my player. But there IS a "D" version out there that supposedly resolves some HDMI issues.

By having the user enter their serial number, they check against the HARDWARE revision. As the hardware changed, later and later firmware revs could be used. Earlier hardware revs may not be compatible with later firmware revs.

Last night I went Denon's site, entered my serial number and had no problem downloading "D."

I have been trying to make my 2910 region free using the following steps:

To make the Denon DVD-2910, 3910 and A1XV play DVDs from all regions:

1. Ensure there is no disc in the player.
2. Power off using the front panel On/Off button (not standby).
3. Press and hold Open/Close, Play and Skip Reverse (I<<).
4. Keep the above buttons held and Power-up the player using the On/Off button, holding the above buttons until the player's name disappears from the front panel.
5. Wait until the player finishes LOADING and the front panel of the player shows 0:00:00.
6. On the remote handset, press in sequence; 7 3 1 9 4 6 2 8
7. The unit should enter standby mode. On the front panel of the player, press the Standby button to turn the player back on.
8. To confirm the update, press on the front panel Stop and Skip Forward (>>I). The front panel should briefly display “Region_Ax” where x is the original region number. If not, then repeat the process 1-7 above.

I've tried this 10 or 12 times and I get nothing after I enter the numbers. I've also tried to download the firmware with no luck. Nero just gives me 'unexpected file format' every time I try Any ideas??

I have been trying to make my 2910 region free using the following steps:

To make the Denon DVD-2910, 3910 and A1XV play DVDs from all regions:

1. Ensure there is no disc in the player.
2. Power off using the front panel On/Off button (not standby).
3. Press and hold Open/Close, Play and Skip Reverse (I<<).
4. Keep the above buttons held and Power-up the player using the On/Off button, holding the above buttons until the player's name disappears from the front panel.
5. Wait until the player finishes LOADING and the front panel of the player shows 0:00:00.
6. On the remote handset, press in sequence; 7 3 1 9 4 6 2 8
7. The unit should enter standby mode. On the front panel of the player, press the Standby button to turn the player back on.
8. To confirm the update, press on the front panel Stop and Skip Forward (>>I). The front panel should briefly display Region_Ax where x is the original region number. If not, then repeat the process 1-7 above.

I've tried this 10 or 12 times and I get nothing after I enter the numbers. I've also tried to download the firmware with no luck. Nero just gives me 'unexpected file format' every time I try Any ideas??

Thanks in advance for any assistance!!

~Jeff

Jeff, I recently purchased some Depeche Mode SACD's. They come with a bonus DVD, but these are PAL. So, I did some searching and came across this site:http://www.denon2910.freehomepage.com/
It looks like these are the instructions you also saw. They work for me (I was very surprised actually!). My firmware is ESS-6720-B. It seems to work fine, so I didn't upgrade to D. I used the instructions from above (REMOTE TRICK) to make it region free. When it's finished the player displays Region A1 on the front panel.

Make sure to do the following on the DVD player itself, not the remote:
3. Press and hold Open/Close, Play and Skip Reverse (I<<).

I seem to have breathed some new life into the old 2910. I don't think I'll get rid of it any time soon. Even if I get an HD player, I'll still keep the 2910 as it makes an awesome SACD/DVD-Audio player.

Jeff, I recently purchased some Depeche Mode SACD's. They come with a bonus DVD, but these are PAL. So, I did some searching and came across this site:http://www.denon2910.freehomepage.com/
It looks like these are the instructions you also saw. They work for me (I was very surprised actually!). My firmware is ESS-6720-B. It seems to work fine, so I didn't upgrade to D. I used the instructions from above (REMOTE TRICK) to make it region free. When it's finished the player displays Region A1 on the front panel.

Make sure to do the following on the DVD player itself, not the remote:
3. Press and hold Open/Close, Play and Skip Reverse (I<<).

I seem to have breathed some new life into the old 2910. I don't think I'll get rid of it any time soon. Even if I get an HD player, I'll still keep the 2910 as it makes an awesome SACD/DVD-Audio player.

Thanks for the response darcraver. I did use the buttons on the front of the player for that one step. I'll give it a try again when I get home tonight and see if I have better results...

My 2910 is a refurbished unit...I wonder if that would make any difference?? I wouldn't think so but who knows??